Polity · 1636 CE – 1912 CE
Qing Dynasty
ᡩᠠᡳᠴᡳᠩ ᡤᡠᡵᡠᠨ · Манж Чин гүрэн · 清朝
- Peak recorded area
- 12,509,600 km²
- 1806 CE
- Rulers on record
- 18
- from 1636 CE
- Data series
- 129
- 1645 CE–1911 CE
Overview
The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which existed from 1636/1644 to 1912. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
67 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 3 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1912 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 97 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population93 obs · 1700 CE–1911 CE | 427.7Mpersons1911 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| City Pop Fuzhou14 obs · 1649 CE–1900 CE | 250Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Guangzhou14 obs · 1647 CE–1900 CE | 585Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Shanghai12 obs · 1700 CE–1900 CE | 619Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Suzhou12 obs · 1650 CE–1900 CE | 280Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Tianjin12 obs · 1700 CE–1900 CE | 700Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
Economy
6 of 9 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP267 obs · 1645 CE–1911 CE | 877.1int'l $ (inflation adj.)1911 CE · Gapminder |
| Real Wage69 obs · 1820 CE–1911 CE | 3.85index (1500=1)1911 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Total Exports42 obs · 1870 CE–1911 CE | 245.27million USD (current)1911 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports42 obs · 1870 CE–1911 CE | 306.47million USD (current)1911 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance42 obs · 1870 CE–1911 CE | -61.2million USD (current)1911 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness42 obs · 1870 CE–1911 CE | 551.74million USD (current)1911 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 7 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score52 obs · 1860 CE–1911 CE | 0.1134CINC (share of world capability)1911 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption52 obs · 1860 CE–1911 CE | 9.1Mcoal-ton equivalents1911 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production52 obs · 1860 CE–1911 CE | 39Ktons1911 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel52 obs · 1860 CE–1911 CE | 1Mpersons1911 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure GBP12 obs · 1896 CE–1911 CE | 11.9Mcurrent GBP1911 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Battle Count | 1battles1851 CE · Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3) |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production12 obs · 1900 CE–1911 CE | 85.45TWh1911 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production12 obs · 1900 CE–1911 CE | 0TWh1911 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production12 obs · 1900 CE–1911 CE | 0TWh1911 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
Governance
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index123 obs · 1789 CE–1911 CE | 0.057index (0-1)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index123 obs · 1789 CE–1911 CE | 0.025index (0-1)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index123 obs · 1789 CE–1911 CE | 0.02index (0-1)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index123 obs · 1789 CE–1911 CE | 0.072index (0-1)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity2110 obs · 1800 CE–1911 CE | -2index (-10 to 10)1911 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type12 obs · 1900 CE–1911 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 7 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index123 obs · 1789 CE–1911 CE | 0.34index (0-1)1911 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Radios97 obs · 1815 CE–1911 CE | 0count1911 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Merchant Shipping Tonnage29 obs · 1882 CE–1911 CE | 106gross tons1911 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km17 obs · 1892 CE–1911 CE | 9,854km1911 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Numeracy13 obs · 1670 CE–1910 CE | 99.85ABCC index1910 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Tech Mail Items10 obs · 1901 CE–1911 CE | 425items1911 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
18 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Hong TaijiEmperor of China1636 CE – 1643 CE
- Li ZichengEmperor of China1644 CE – 1645 CE
- Shunzhi EmperorEmperor of China1644 CE – 1661 CE
- Zhu Yousong, Prince of FuEmperor of China1644 CE – 1645 CE
- Li ZijingEmperor of China1645 CE – 1646 CE
- Zhu YujianEmperor of China1645 CE – 1646 CE
- Zhu Youlang, Prince of GuiEmperor of China1646 CE – 1662 CE
- Zhu Yuyue, Prince of TangEmperor of China1646 CE – 1647 CE
- Kangxi EmperorEmperor of China1661 CE – 1722 CE
- Yongzheng EmperorEmperor of China1722 CE – 1735 CE
- Qianlong EmperorEmperor of China1735 CE – 1796 CE
- Jiaqing EmperorEmperor of China1796 CE – 1820 CE
- Daoguang EmperorEmperor of China1820 CE – 1850 CE
- Xianfeng EmperorEmperor of China1850 CE – 1861 CE
- Hong XiuquanEmperor of China1851 CE – 1864 CE
- Tongzhi EmperorEmperor of China1861 CE – 1875 CE
- Guangxu EmperorEmperor of China1875 CE – 1908 CE
- PuyiEmperor of China1908 CE – 1912 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan
- Currency
- tael, Hubu Guanpiao, Great Qing Treasure Note, Sycee
Memberships
- Russia–China Defense Pact (1896)Military alliance · member1896 CE – 1900 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban PopulationChandler 1987 / Modelski 2003
Chandler, T. (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth; Modelski, G. (2003). World Cities: -3000 to 2000.
Compiled from published works (Chandler 1987; Modelski 2003)
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Historical Conflict Events Dataset (HCED v3)v3
Brecke, P. Conflict Catalog (Historical Conflict Events Dataset), digitized v3.
Academic use, attribution
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Qing Dynasty is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.